And being a pre-pro model, pretty likely this was a fluke.

I would not be deterred in considering a purchase of one. (of course I'm in no danger of that, since they won't be in the usa)

Amazing tarmac rally history these cars have—the A110 won the first ever WRC event in 1973, at Monte Carlo of course.

Pics below, (not mine, from the net)

 

I saw the A110 last weekend at the Paris concept car show... it looks....umm.. OK. Cool car, but 4C still looks way better.

Also maybe because I was distracted by the Terzo Millennio next to it haha Italians knows how to make sexy cars.

 

It handles...well...like this:

 

It handles...well...like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdsXUB0z-Pc

Slalom looked good, but without ESC on its strictest mode it looks like the “moose” might have been a goner!

Probably very close to the 4C in tems of handling. Is there a similar video for our car?

 

The German Auto Motor und Sport Magazin tested the A110 on the Hockenheimring. It did on Michelin Pilot Sport 4 Tires a 1:14,0min. The 4C did years ago with the shitty PZeros also a 1:14,0.

 

I saw one for the first time at the weekend. I was amazed at how many of the 4C's interior features have been 'copied'. The general layout is very similar, toggle switches, door pulls, etc.. Interesting car but I'm happy with my 4C.

AlfaArnold

 

Might be a repost, but Evo magazine this week gives the A110 4.5 out of 5 stars and says it is better than a Cayman.

https://www.evo.co.uk/alpine/a110

 

And for EVO to say that ANYTHING is better than a Porsche, is something quite extraordinary.
I wasn't even sure that they would rate sex that highly!!! :grin2:

 

The 1103kg A110 is very impressive in that it is as light as a US-spec Alfa 4C without needing to resort to an expensive carbon tub. It's also longer and a bit higher than the 4C. The interior is lightyears ahead of the plain 4C. Exterior is a love it or loathe it thing.

 

Interior is better on the A110, but it has nowhere near the road-presence of the 4C. And, so far, A110 is only marginally faster on-track than the 4C, despite being ~5 years newer.

 

Interior is better on the A110, but it has nowhere near the road-presence of the 4C.

I love my 4C coupe, but I've not had the chance yet to see an Alpine in person. And from some angles, the Alpine looks great. From some angles, the 4C can look a bit plain. So I'd love to see one.

And, so far, A110 is only marginally faster on-track than the 4C, despite being ~5 years newer.

Fortunately, neither car is engaged in the horsepower war that plagues the sports car market. Both are plenty fast enough.

 

In have an appointment tomorrow to drive one. If you hear from me again, it sucked ?

 

In have an appointment tomorrow to drive one. If you hear from me again, it sucked

Well we didn’t hear from you again so can only assume it’s brilliant and you’ve bought one.

 

Since Nissan is not importing any of these to the US.

It would probably not sell well anyways, be heavier to meet US crash standards , and cut into the Old any outdated 3xxZ and GTR sales.

Then I see not much of a point in caring too much.:wink2:

 

The one negative I heard from reviewers is that the rear end is very nervous and can be troublesome at high speed corners and fast direction changes. Since the ALFA with stickier tires and stock rear bushings also has a bit of that, it seems that they missed something. I would have thought with the double wishbone rear compared to the 4C they would have seen an improvement. Oh well...seems that these companies need to learn from others. Wish they sold these in the US so we could check one out....but it would have a lot more weight and the number of cars sold would be very few. The only reason the 4C was brought into the US was as a halo model for the reintroduction of ALFA in the US market. It was really a lost leader and ALFA probably lost several thousand dollars on each one. But companies do that to establish market. For example Chevrolet looses a reported $8000 on every Bolt they sell here. But the future of EVs demands they establish market presence.

The market ion the US is for SUVs and less so cars like the Giulia....not weekend toys like ours.....but that is what I love about the 4C.

 

The one negative I heard from reviewers is that the rear end is very nervous and can be troublesome at high speed corners and fast direction changes.

I’ve read extensively a number of road tests from highly respected UK magazines and all give the Alpine glowing references after unanimously slating the Alfa for it’s wayward handling and over stiff damping. I can only speak about the UK but Alpine seems to have little interest in selling me a car. I’ve contacted them a number of times but they haven’t even replied. I’d call personally but I’m not going to waste time on a 300 mile round trip to test drive a car in a city centre. I believe there are 4 or 5 dealers in the UK and my nearest is Birmingham. It’s such a difference to Alfa sales, and to some extent upholds the French reputation for arrogance. In contrast, Alfa delivered a test 4C to my home driven by a racing instructor!

 

Test drive? What’s a test drive? I had a hard enough battle just to get to sit in one.

 

Just test drove the Alpine at the Classic Throttle ship in Sydney.
I have a reserved Premier Edition.
Tempting.....
Very different car. Surprised by the comfort and ease of use. Very much a daily driver car.

Looks much better in the flesh than photos.

 

Did you ask who does the electrics in it?

 

Ahhh, yes the XJ220. Its tail always reminds me of the Maserati MC12

 

You might see one at some point, I know of one XJ220 in Houston and MSR tends to bring out some beautiful and rare cars. I saw my first, and only, RUF YellowBird there many years ago. We’ve got one XJ220 here in Dallas as well.

 

Alpine A110 SportsX Concept... Just in time for ski season

 

Will be a lot faster at speed bumps as well ;-)

 

Nice video Nurnburgring
4C vs Alpine

 

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www.tellerreport.com

 

Hello fellas,

Had a chance to test drive Alpine - A110 on an AutoX event and thought you might care to hear our thoughts on a comparsion between A110 and the 4C,

So what's it like?

Exterior:
Well, the front end is not too appealing in the pictures, neither it is in live. I don't know, something is off. The side profile is OK, and the view from the rear is cool. It looks wide and sporty. The wheels in this particular car are too retro for my taste. It is narrower than a 4C and looks longer, less boxy. Forgive me my subjectivity, but in the looks contest, 4C is a clear winner here. It was embarrassing how much more attention the 4C got.

Interior:
No subjectivity here. A110's interior is level or two above 4C's. Materials, luxury, audio, the comfort. 4C feels like a kit car compared to A110. A110 is a winner here, no doubt. The only plus on the interior of the 4C is visible carbon fiber monocoque and super wide door sills, giving it a proper race car feel.

Comfort A110 is surprisingly comfortable car. It provides a decent in-cabin feel. Audio is OK, the interior is quiet and the car feels soft to drive. 4C has really just a basic comfort (AC), very mediocre audio system, loud interior and passenger seat is not even adjustable, so it is definitely not a comfortable car.

Engine:
This A110 was the basic version, with 250hp engine. It feels pretty much the same as stock 4C does. You can hear less turbo, but more air intake sound (like from N/A engines), although the engine sound itself is not nearly as noticeable in the cabin as it is in the 4C. It pops and bangs quite a lot on every aggressive throttle lift off. The engine feel slightly less torquey and more linear. The tunability is probably slightly better than on a 4C, the position of the engine itself is lower and the turbo is facing towards the rear of the car, which provides far better cooling capabilities than 4C has. Nothing wrong with 4C engine, but I believe the A110 has a bit of an edge here over 4C.

Gearbox:
A110's 7-speed DCT feels smoother and slightly faster. Especially on drive-away it feels less clunky and noisy. The paddle shifts are part of interior, but they are more robust, all aluminum, compared to 4C's plastic ones. It has slight edge over 4C's TCT.

Weight:
With about 100kg more than 4C, nothing to explain here. 4C is a winner.

Suspension, chassis:
A110 has double wishbones front and rear compared to 4C having double wishbones at front and MacPherson at the rear. On the track with a few cm's of travel it is hard to evaluate how much of an advantage the double wishbone is compared to MacPherson, but we can assume that technically the A110 has superior suspension compared to 4C, but that doesn't necessary make the 4C slower or less capable. The monocoque carbon fiber tub in a 4C is a no brainer over A110's aluminum.

Brakes:
The 4C uses decent 4-pot Brembo caliper at front, and a generic, 1-pot, sliding TRW caliper at the rear - mediocre at best we can say. It's almost absurd, but it gets the job done. The pedal box, the brake pedal feel and modulation on a 4C is superb though. 4C does feel a bit too much front biased though and it screams for an upgraded rear brake calipers. The A110 has 4-pot calipers front and rear so that's a clear advantage over 4C and while modulation is OK, the entire setup feels a bit spongy and soft. The brake balance feels well biased though. I would call it a tie on the brakes comparison. Combining brake specs of both cars together, would make for a perfect braking system.

Grip: While 4C has about 10% less weight (1000kg) vs 1100kg (A110), the A110 has slightly superior suspension layout (double wishbones front and rear). However you can't deny the laws of physics, so 4C will generate higher cornering speeds due to its lower weight, Alpine doesn't feel any heavier or less capable compared to a stock 4C. While none of these two cars have noticeable aero features, this is pretty much all about the tires and weight. The one with better tires will win. Both cars, on same tires, the lighter one will win.

Handling / driveability:
That's tricky to review as my understanding of handling / driveability is quite different than most of car reviews you can read. Handling / driveability and grip are two separate things. The car can handle good, but that doesn't mean it's necessary going to be fast or has lots of grip. Or the other way around. The car can have lots of grip, but it's not going too have a particular good, easy and forgiving handling. F1 cars have mind fuzzing grip, but their handling / driveability is not really easy to tame. In general, the more "racey" the car is, the higher is the grip limit but less forgiving and harder to handle the car becomes. Driving such car on the limit, yields superior lap times, but it requires far more precise and skillful driving. The room for driver's error margin narrows significantly. Things that contribute the most to this are aggressive alignment, tires and stiff suspension. There are also other things that contribute to this, but let's not get too much in to the details at this point and let's focus to A110 vs. 4C comparison.

As mentioned, the A110 has superior suspension layout and slightly better weight distribution (44/56) vs. 40/60 (4C), but 4C is about 100kg lighter and has stiffer setup suspension, with noticeably less dive, squat and body roll. With rather softly setup suspension, the A110 feels a bit too floaty, especially on the weight transitions, but it soaks up the curbs nicely, while 4C carves through the curves better, with less body roll, but it gets more unsettled by driving over the curbs. Although the power assisted steering on A110 is rather good, the unassisted, direct 4C's steering provides more feedback and precision, making the 4C easier to read the limits of its adhesion. The A110 also feels more like RWD layout car, with lots of tendency to drift and stay in drift, than 4C which feels like a classic MR layout car. On throttle lift off, the 4C will tend to oversteer, while A110 feels more neutral. On the throttle, accelerating hard out of the corners, the 4C will thrust and provide immense grip, which will rarely turn in to the oversteer, unless the surface is slippery, while A110 will easily oversteer which is not a very common for a MR layout cars. This is probably due to slightly more rear biased weight distribution on 4C and differently set up suspension. Overall, the A110 feels easier to drive on the limit (better handling), but less rewarding if precision driving is your thing. If you like messing around with drifting or if your driving style is a bit rough, on the wild side perhaps, then A110 is the thing. If you care about pure performance and like smooth and precise driving, then 4C it is. It offers faster lap times when driven properly, no doubt.

Tunability:
While the A110 definitely has the tuning potential, the fact that it is available in European market only, there is basically no tuning or upgrade suppliers for this car, which leaves you with a pretty much stock A110. The track builds, race builds and tuning market for the 4C on the other hand, is impressive given the number of cars made. 4C is a clear winner hear.

Tracking:
A110 has solid out of box performance, but 4C is more track orientated. The tuning market for A110 is virtually non existing, while 4C tuning market is capable of fulfilling all your track needs. both cars are cheap to run on track unless you crash them.

Overall:
A110 is a well composed and proper sports car. It's comfortable, yet capable. It provides a good driving experience and feels a good all-arounder (track, street). It feels like a Cayman, just slightly less powerfull and slightly lighter. Nothing new honestly and plenty of choice in this segment. The 4C on the other hand is entirely different. It's a kit car, homologated to be driven on the roads. It's not comfortable, it's not good all-arounder, but it's immersive to the point you can forgive it all it's hardcore-ness. If you don't care about comfort, about the radio and other luxury stuff and you just want to shred it, then this is it. It's a light, nimble, high grip, non forgiving bolide. Keep your 4C as we probably won't have another chance in a lifetime to own a crazy car as 4C is.

Rating:

Exterior: A110 (5) 4C (9)
Interior: A110 (8) 4C (5)
Comfort: A110 (7) 4C (2)
Engine: A110 (7) 4C (6)
Gearbox: A110 (7) 4C (6)
Weight: A110 (8) 4C (10)
Suspension / chassis: A110 (8) 4C (8)
Brakes: A110 (7) 4C (7)
Grip: A110 (7) 4C (9)
Handling / driveability: A110 (8) 4C (7)
Tunability: A110 (1) 4C (8)
Tracking: A110 (6) 4C (9)
Overall: A110 (77) 4C (86)

Fun fact:

• They barely let me drive the A110 with the Alfa Romeo T-shirt.
• It took me 6 laps to found the audio controls and turn down the radio volume to hear the car better

 

Hello fellas,
... It feels like a Cayman, just slightly less powerfull and slightly lighter.

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Wonderful description and Thank You from this side of the pond where we will not most likely see this vehicle.
Right after : Hello fellas,
I kept reading and thinking: ... It feels like a Cayman, just slightly less powerfull and slightly lighter.

 

I don’t want a downsized Cayman, so I am good with the 4C. Suspicions confirmed, and we can’t get one in the US anyways. I saw another video, you can’t spy the engine without removing stuff. Big advantage 4C especially coupes. Doesn’t have that mini exotic look and feel. No thanks.

 

The 4C certainly looks more exotic, but the A110 has it's own unique look that I find very appealing. I would like to see one in the flesh, but here in North America I probably will not get that opportunity. North America needs more light weight small sports cars. We have more than enough big overweight, oversized cars here.

As for the 4C's seats, just raise the bottom cushion's front edge to the upper mounting hole. Makes a huge improvement.
If you find the 4C's interior lacking, there are plenty of simple aftermarket fixes for that.

If I was in the market for a new sports car, and if the A110 was available here in the States, it would be one of the cars on my buy list.

 

A110S Color Edition 2020 Jaune Tournesol

 

A110 Orange Sanguine

 

Needed an Italian body designer though.

 

A110 Légende Bleu Alpine